Frost and Fire
by Aria-Jarvis
Summary: The recruit always wanted to be a hero, and maybe this box is her chance! But heroism is never quite what it was in the stories, and even then, some stories don't have happy endings...
1. Prologue

AN: And here we'll start the adventures of the heroine with the most unimaginative name in the world! Not to be confused with the Heroine of Brogsbard, the Heroine of Firstgrasp, the Heroine of... Well, not to be confused with any Heroines except the Heroine of Falconreach! Being that this otherwise would just rehash the game, there are definitely going to be some divergences. Later. For now, Gorrillaphant!

* * *

The world of Lore was a beautiful place, but dangerous, too. A noble girl's father often warned about the dangers that various monsters posed, but then she thought, that's why there are heroes. Someone there to stand up for their fellows, to battle against evil, someone with legends behind them and a destiny ahead of them. She wanted to be a hero.

So she ran away from home. The city was in the sky, however, and posed quite a challenge to leave. But then, a hero is nothing without determination. She had once killed an evil dragon... by accident... but that only counted when it needed to, and she was certain that with the right training, she would go far.

Oaklore gained a new recruit, but one that was often distracted. The girl did well enough to defend the keep from sneevil invasions, but she was a dreamer at heart. Every day, after her training, she would go out to a cliff overlooking the other half of the Oaklore Forest and gaze. Not at the trees, or the clouds, but into the future, or what she wanted it to be.

It was on this cliff that her adventure would begin.

One day, she was dreaming of battling an evil necromancer, when suddenly a great red dragon swooped out of the clouds and passed the cliff. She panicked and scrambled to her feet as the dragon landed before her. She drew her sword, it ducked its head. But obviously not in fear.

On this dragon's back was a beautiful woman carrying a large, ornate black box, and a little red moglin, which shouted his greetings. He hopped off of the dragon and began to look about, then back to the lady.

"The path is clear, priestess!" he said.

The priestess gracefully stood, box in hands, and nodded to the recruit. "Please pardon us, friend. We're only passing through."

The recruit stepped aside, letting the two pass. The dragon drew closer to her, as if to examine her, before shaking his head and flying away. She wished he'd said something. Something to indicate whether he was friend or foe.

Sheathing her blade, she began to make her way back to the keep, wondering who that priestess was. She was barely very far from the cliff when she remembered that there was a sleeping gorrillaphant by an old log. She knew the forest's creatures well enough to keep from waking it up, but-

The recruit received a face-full of red fur as the moglin was thrown in her face. She plucked the moglin off of her face, scowling, but an angered roar in front of her told her she didn't have the time.

"Listen, furball," She said, "We don't have a lot of time, but your priestess is in danger."

She set the moglin down beside her, drew her sword, picked up a rock and threw it at the gorrillaphant, as hard as she could. "Hey, big bad and ugly! Attack me instead of that innocent priestess over there."

It turned and charged for the recruit, who dashed to the nearest tree for cover. She hadn't exactly thought this through. It charged nearly five times (each time she jumped to another tree), before she got an idea.

She ran in front of another tree, sheathed her sword, an began waving. "Yoo hoo! Over here!"

The gorrillaphant snarled, and dashed for her. The recruit jumped aside and listened to the sweet, sweet _thud _sound the gorrillaphant made when it headbutt the tree and fell unconscious. It could have gone better, but what done was what was done. The priestess was safe... and strangely, completely unharmed.

"Thank you for saving me, brave knight." the priestess said, "May I know the name of my hero?"

The moglin piped up, rather confused. "But priestess, you said her name was Heroine and she's going to-"

A sigh from his taller companion told the moglin to shut his pipe. "Twilly..."

"Alas, we are out of time. Good knight, I must ask an important favor of thee. Would you please let your captain, Rolith, know that we will be taking the shortcut?"

The recruit nodded. "I don't see why not."

The priestess smiled. "Good. I am certain we will cross paths again."

Twilly, apparently not knowing what was good for him, spoke again. "Especially since she'd going to take the Black Dragon Box and-"

"Twilly."

Then, they left, stepping over the old log and continuing on their path. The recruit shook her head, and started for the Keep. Somehow, she doubted her day could get any stranger than this.

I'm sure you can imagine that she was very, very wrong.

* * *

"You saw Lady Celestia on your way back?!" said Saelwyn, the librarian's elven assistant. The recruit was told to go voice her concerns to Loremaster Maya, and as Maya was busy cataloging the library, Saelwyn was the girl to talk to. At least she was paying her full attention... unlike a certain someone.

"Yep. I told Rolith, and he sorta... waved me off. Told me to tell Maya."

"Do you realize how important this is?!" Saelwyn said, scowling. "Whatever is in that box is extremely valuable, and something a lot of people would _kill _for."

The recruit paled. "B-but... Captain Rolith wouldn't listen to me!"

Saelwyn took hold of the recruit's shoulder and dragged her out the door, despite her pained protests. When they were a foot away from the captain, Saelwyn yelled "SIR ROLITH!"

"Ow!" he said, holding a hand to his ear. "What is it, Saelwyn? Please tell me you have a reason for yelling at me this time."

Saelwyn nodded, a hint of a smirk on her face. "She saw the priestess, Lady Celestia. Lady Celestia is taking a shortcut through the forest. And you sent her to Maya."

Rolith faced paled and his eyes widened. "T-the priestess? A-Are you sure?!"

Saelwyn nodded. "Fits the description. White hair, black eyes, standard priestess travel robes, and a priceless dragon box."

"And she's not going to stop here at the keep?! Where on Lore is she going?" Rolith yelled at the recruit.

"I don't know!" She said, "She never told me!"

"Listen to me, recruit. _Listen_. These forests are _crawling _with bandits that are looking for her. And you're the _only _soldier we _have _who both knows them well enough to keep from getting lost and has some idea where the priestess might have gone. Your mission today is to go protect her from anything, or _anyone_, that might do her harm. _Am I making myself clear?_"

"Yessir!"

Rolith turned to the assistant librarian. "And Saelwyn! Seeing as you are experienced in magic, you are going to protect the recruit."

Saelwyn scoffed. "_Lovely_." she said, "Well, you don't have to tell me twice. Let's go, heroine."

The recruit glared at the elf. "I have a _name_, you know."

"I see little point in remembering it, so I don't."

* * *

"I think she went this way. See, about a century ago, a wood-cutter cut down this huge tree, and it fell the wrong way. He didn't realize it would be too heavy for anyone to move, so he sort of just left it there, and people had to walk around it. Eventually, the path just changed course. The log has long since rotted away, but there might still be a few skeletons where it used to be."

"So the priestess took the old foliage-covered path?"

"Probably. Falconreach is a two-day walk using the normal path and only half a day's walk on this one, so maybe that's where she-"

Saelwyn covered the recruit's mouth. "Shh! Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Came the muffled reply.

"Listen..."

They were quiet for a moment, then they heard a man's voice. "Give the box, and we'll kill you quickly."

The mage and the recruit ran as fast as they could, following the direction of the voice, and they stumbled upon a clearing. There the priestess was, with Twilly behind her, protecting the box, and a rather haughty-looking thug holding an ornate sword to her throat. The priestess turned her head to look at the recruit, and the thug followed her gaze.

"My heroine!" The priestess said, "We must defend the box at all costs!"

The recruit drew her blade, and glared at the thug. "Look, punk, I don't know who you are, but you'd better-"

The thug's booming voice left the recruit's ears ringing. "My name is DRAKATH! I am the leader of the Darkwolf Renegade and the rightful ruler of this land."

Saelwyn smirked. "You're a criminal? I'm shocked, really."

Drakath continued. "That box is the key to my throne, and there's no way I'm letting a peasant like you keep it from me."

The recruit assumed a fighting stance, scowling. "Peasant? Do you know who I am?"

"DIRT!" Drakath said, "Now stand down, or, like the trash you are, you will be blown away by the winds of my great destiny!"

The recruit was seething with anger. "I was just sent to protect the priestess, but you just made this personal! Bring it on!"

Two of Drakath's lackeys jumped down from the tree tops, and Drakath immediately began barking orders at them. "Get the elf- The loud-mouthed squire is mine!"

The bandits moved to apprehend Saelwyn, but their bark turned out to be worse than their bite. In only a few minutes, they lay defeated at Salewyn's feet. Against Drakath, Twilly and the recruit weren't doing so well. The recruit only had so much training with a sword and had only spent so much time on solid ground. The moments when she had an advantage were the moments that she was trying to regain her footing.

Finally, Drakath knocked her to the ground, about to give the finishing blow, when Saelwyn rushed behind him and electrified him. He fell to the ground, and Saelwyn helped the recruit up.

Drakath got up to his knees, scowling at the two. "Impossible! You got lucky this time, mage!"

Saelwyn crossed her arms and shrugged. "I'm actually Saelwyn. This is... I don't really care what her name is. I just call her Heroine."

"Hey! I wanted to talk smack!"

"Fine. We'll start over."

Heroine cleared her throat. "Luck had nothing to do with it. And the name is Heroine. Remember it!"

Drakath sneered. "Oh, I will. You can count on that."

He stood and threw down a smoke bomb. When the smoke disappeared, he'd vanished, the box with him.

"_Crap!_" Heroine said, "Did he take the box?"

The priestess stood and shook her head. "No, actually, a sneevil took it while you were busy smack-talking.

"Why didn't you say something? Saelwyn asked.

"Well, you two were really on a roll. I didn't want to interrupt. Regardless, the box must be recovered. Twilly can lead you to Falconreach. There, you may be able to find some sort of lead."

Saelwyn nodded to Twilly, but turned to the priestess again. "And what about you? What are you going to do?"

The priestess took a moment to think, and then gave a gentle smile. "I know I can trust you to find the box, so I will teleport home and have some tea. Good luck!"

True to her words, Lady Celestia vanished, leaving the three alone.

Heroine turned to Saelwyn. "If she could just teleport away, why was she here in the first place?"

"I think I know who that box was for. Lead on, Twilly."

* * *

The walk through the forest took most of the night. It shouldn't have taken so long, but there were many delays; such as Heroine panicking and trying to go back to the keep when she realized she'd forgotten to tell the captain where she was going, being ambushed by Darkwolf Renegades that demanded revenge for their leader, and having a bear set on them by a little blue moglin. After that last encounter Saelwyn marked Heroine's left arm with a protection spell.

And so it was nearly sunrise when they got to the bridge. Heroine and Twilly were exhausted and wanted to stop, but Saelwyn ushered them forward.

"Falconreach is just across-"

Saelwyn noticed the water below the bridge was bubbling. It took barely a split second for a three-head hydra to crash through the bridge, destroying part of it and sending rubble everywhere.

Heroine shielded Twilly from the rubble, but she wasn't ready for the first hydra head to attack. She was hit with gallons of high-pressure water, and while it hurt, she was more awake now.

Saelwyn stepped back. "You're the heroine. Slay it."

"Are you crazy? I'm only the heroine because you kept forge-"

The hydra, not wanting to wait for its meal, lunged for Heroine, but she jumped forward. Avoiding the other two, Heroine dashed to cut off one of its heads. She succeeded, but that just made it more angry.

The second head lunged for Heroine, and she ducked and sliced through its throat. All that was left now was the biggest head, and that one would go so easily. More water came gushing out of the hydra's throat, and while not as powerful as the first blast, still knocked Heroine off the bridge. She dropped her sword into the water below and hung for dear life. Twilly tried to help her up, but a twelve-ounce moglin could only do much to pick up an armored 137-pound girl.

There was a blinding flash of light, and the hydra fell into the water below them. Minutes passed. Heroine's grasp was slipping. But just before she slipped off the bridge, Saelwyn grabbed her hand and hoisted her up.

"What took you so long?" Heroine said while Saelwyn was busy magicking the hydra's corpse into the bridge gap, "I almost died!"

"Pardon me for busying myself with the beast's destruction. I thought you could save yourself. But then, wouldn't this be the second time I've saved you? Ironic, really."

Heroine was left speechless as Saelwyn crossed the bridge.

Saelwyn turned around and smirked. "But as far as we're concerned, you killed it."

* * *

Not as fantastamazing as I'd hoped it would be, but oh well. I spent three days on it. Anyway, if you find any mistakes I may have missed, by all means, shout it out. Sometimes people don't look at the review page and if you guys help me scour out the errors I'll look good.


	2. The Wrath of Xan

AN: Worked really hard to get his one up as soon as possible. The next chapter won't be up nearly as early, I'm still trying to settle out the kinks. Other wise, criticize!

* * *

"Dawson!" The young messenger boy called, "I have three letters for J.C. Dawson!"

He'd spent four hours the previous day trying to find this person, and was trying again today.

This wasn't an ordinary person. This was someone with a destiny; someone to whom three important letters were written, one from Yulgar, the weapon smith, Warlic, the blue mage, and Cysero, the... other weapon smith, who was quite mad.

And they were apparently a Pactagonal Knight. He himself had always wanted to be a knight, but... he was a commoner. His last name was Dragonblade, and Sir Dragonblade wasn't even remotely punny.

He stood, lost in thought, when the door to the forge opened, and Yulgar's apprentice, Konnan, walked out.

"Hi, Ash. Still haven't found him?" Konnan said.

"No." Ash said, somewhat glum, "I checked everywhere. The inn, the fountain... even that shady bakery. I tried to check the guardian tower, but they said they didn't have anyone there named J.C. Dawson."

Konnan scratched the back of his head, brows furrowed. "Do you know what they look like? Maybe no one named J.C. Dawson checked into the inn, but maybe... James. Or John. Or Charlie."

"Charlie?"

"You never know."

Ash shrugged. "I just figured they'd be in knight armor. I don't have anything else to go by."

Konnan smiled. "Yulgar said something about a J.C. Dawson earlier. Maybe he knows where your mystery recipient is?"

Ash held out one of the letters. "One of these is from him!"

"Then I'm sure he knows what J.C. Dawson looks like." Konnan said, returning to the forge."

Ash waited. It seemed like forever before Konnan came back, snickering a little.

"You're not actually looking for a man," Konnan said, "J.C. Dawson is a young woman with short black hair and grey eyes. She's a squire, not a knight, so she won't be in a full suit of armor. She's traveling with an elven mage named Saelwyn, who has olive skin and brown hair, and Twilly will most definitely be with them. If you checked the inn yesterday, you should check it today. She might not have been able to cross the bridge yesterday."

Ash gave Konnan his thanks, and made his way to the inn. Poking his head through the doorway, he nodded to Serenity and entered. He looked around the room, but there was no sign of travelers.

Serenity approached him, seeming somewhat concerned. "Are you looking for someone?"

"Yeah, I got a few letters for. She's a dark-haired squire and was travelling with an elven mage. Have you seen either?"

"Both, actually," Serenity said, beaming. "I'm guessing you don't know what happened this morning?"

Ash leaned in curiously.

"The hydra is dead." Serenity whispered. She threw her head back and laughed. "I didn't believe her when she said her name was Heroine and she killed the blasted thing, but people have seen it! The hydra's head, wedged in the gap of the bridge so people could cross!" Calming down, she continued. "Ironic, isn't it? Well, if she took down a hydra, maybe she could help me with my little ghost problem."

Ash was hardly listening. This girl, this Heroine, was already a squire. And she killed a hydra. If she wasn't a knight today, she would surely be one tomorrow. Maybe... She could teach him a thing or two?

"When do you think she'll wake up?" Ash asked.

"She came in around six this morning, so give her an hour or two."

Ash probably should have left the letters with Serenity. But he couldn't. He wanted to meet this hero.

* * *

Heroine had rolled out of bed around an hour after Saelwyn stirred.

"Get up," Saelwyn said, "That box isn't going to find itself."

"I'm up... sorta."

Saelwyn nodded. "Good. I figure we should get some breakfast, then ask around for people who can help us."

Heroine scoffed. "How, exactly, are we going to ask? 'Oh, hey, have you seen my black dragon box? It may be one of the most important artifacts in the world, but I sort of LOST IT'. How do you lose something like that?"

"Just tell them the truth." Saelwyn said.

"That a sneevil took it while I was smack-talking?" Heroine moaned.

"Exactly. We need only find the sneevil that has the box."

"Out of the hundreds of sneevils in the world? That'll be easy." Heroine licked her hand and tried to flatten some hair that was sticking up, to no avail. She simply shook her head and opened the door, causing the young man who had leaned on it to fall in.

No sooner had Ash hit the ground than he saw Heroine's surprised face, and he scrambled up and apologized. He then went digging in his satchel for the letters.

"Are you J.C. Dawson? These are for you!"

"Fanmail? Already?" Heroine joked, beaming, "My my... you wouldn't happen to be an admirer, would you?"

Ash gave a nervous laugh, and nodded. "I'd admire anyone who can become a Pactogonal Knight."

Heroine blinked a few times, then shook her head. "I'm not a Pactogonal knight. I trained in Oaklore, but as a simple warrior, not a knight."

Heroine quickly began to speak again when she noticed the crushed look on the messenger's face. "I mean, I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but... I never really had any interest in becoming a knight. Those who do are brave, indeed, but I'm an adventurer at heart. My place is on the road."

Ash looked at his feet, avoiding the hero's gaze. "So... I suppose you're not going to stay in Falconreach, are you?"

Heroine shook her head. "I never completed my training. Once I finish what I'm doing here, I have to go back to Oaklore. Maaaybe I'll come back to visit you sometimes?" She said, sheepishly smiling.

Ash shook his head, frustrated. "But that's not the point! People are calling you the Heroine of Falconreach. If you don't stay..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa... I just killed a hydra."

"JUST killed a hydra? You freed up the only bridge connecting Falconreach to the western part of Lore! That means we can trade with cities surrounding the Oaklore Forest!"

"..."

"I think I quoted that right, don't worry."

Heroine was silent for a moment. Two moments. Ash almost thought he'd upset her before she started laughing. "You know what kid? I like you!" Heroine said, patting Ash on the back. "After I'm done with my current quest, I'll stay a little while longer, just for you. I promise."

"Really?!"

"I promised, didn't I?"

"Yes!"

"Come on," Heroine said, "Serenity said she'd make me breakfast, and since it's passed lunch time, I figure we can get brunch and squeeze you in."

* * *

"Thanks, Serenity! That was delicious!" Heroine said, leaning back in her chair and folding her hands behind her head.

"Anytime, Heroine!" Serenity said, collecting their dishes.

Heroine sat up straight and stretched, "Now that we're all fed, I figure we should figure out where to go."

"HOLD IT" Saelwyn said, before indiscreetly pointing at Ash.

Heroine looked between the two and cocked her head. "What's wrong?"

"Should we really be bringing the kid along?" Saelwyn said.

"Hey!" Ash said, scowling.

Heroine shrugged. "I don't see why not. We're just looking for a sneevil."

Saelwyn leaned toward Heroine. "A sneevil that has the _you-know-what!_"

"Oh, please." Heroine said, rolling her eyes. "If you know about it, it's fine for Ash to know about it."

Ash cocked his head "What's the you-know-what?"

Saelwyn gawked, ignoring him. "The kid we just met?"

Heroine smirked. "I met you yesterday, and you already saved my life twice, you scoundrel, you. The kid stays."

Saelwyn scoffed. "Fine, then, but if we need to get him a weapon..."

Ash turned his head and scoffed. "I have my own."

Heroine shook her head. "No, just mine."

Ash turned to Heroine, shocked. "You don't have a weapon?"

Heroine shook her head. "Not anymore. I used to have an iron blade, but I... uh... dropped it. Into the ocean when I was hanging off the edge of the bridge, before uh... Before Saelwyn pulled me up!"

Ash gawked. "Then how did you kill the hydra?"

Before Heroine could make things worse, Saelwyn piped up, a hint of laughter in her voice. "She strangled it to death, then shoved its head into the gap of the bridge. Brutish..."

"But it got the job done." Heroine said. This mage would have to stop saving her ass at some point. It made her feel like an idiot.

* * *

Heroine went into the forge alone. Saelwyn was off, trying to find a lead, and Ash had a few more letters to deliver. One of Heroine's own letters was in her hands now, instructing her to come to this very forge for a better weapon. _This _guy didn't need to know she dropped hers.

"Hello? Anyone here?" Heroine said. She came in rather late, and worried that perhaps the forge had already closed.

"_Coming!_" The voice of a young man called out. In a few minutes, he was in the room, pushing a box of ore onto a shelf. But one thing Heroine did not expect from his voice was that he was _enormous_; most certainly over six feet tall. "Can I help you with anything, miss?"

"I... I got an invitation. I take it you're not Yulgar?"

"Of course not!" He said, "My name is-"

"So you're Konnan!"

"Uh... yes. How did you know?"

"Yulgar mentioned you in his letter. All he really told me was that you're his apprentice."

"Did he? Are you J.C. Dawson?"

"Actually, I'm Heroine."

Konnan's jaw hit the ground. He looked at Heroine, closer, walked around her, gawking. He shook his head. "_I can't believe this!_ You're a hero! A real hero!"

"Uh, yeah, that's kind of my na-"

Konnan took Heroine's hands and shook them vigorously. "I am _honored_ to make your acquaintance, miss- I-I mean, Lady! Lady Heroine! Should I call you Lady Heroine? Is that too much? I-"

"WHOA. _Slow down_. It's just Heroine."

Konnan stood at attention, and nodded, like a soldier. "Just Heroine. Understood!"

Heroine laughed nervously, and looked around the room. "So. I'll need a new weapon."

Konnan answered instantly. "Certainly! Iron? Bronze? Steel? Oh look at me go, I should go get- um- _YULGAR_! IT'S HEROINE! SHE NEEDS A WEAPON!"

If Heroine was surprised by the tall blond man, she was baffled by Yulgar. He wasn't as tall as Konnan, but he still towered over her. And his beard was magnificent.

"Uh... hi." Heroine said.

"Hello, Heroine. Is there anything specific you have in mind?"

Heroine thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I just swung whatever the armorer in Oaklore gave me, and that was an iron broadsword. I guess I'd like something lighter, less brittle...?"

Yulgar nodded. "A steel long sword then?"

Heroine laughed again and simply nodded. She barely knew the difference between a quarter sword and a great sword. A steel long sword seemed fine. Besides, wasn't that what all the heroes had? A steel long sword?

Konnan went to another shelf, and pulled out a box. "We have some here; take your pick!"

He placed the box on the counter for Heroine to see, and she started to feel nervous. _These are all steel long swords?_, she thought, _T__hey all look different!_

"Um..."

Konnan, noticing Heroine's reluctance, continued. "If none of these are to your liking, we have some more- Or I could forge something, just for you?"

Heroine shrugged, "I'm just a little overwhelmed... Back in Oaklore, all the swords looked the same."

"So they were basically just slabs of iron?"

Yulgar covered his face with his hand and sighed. "Konnan..."

Konnan chuckled, and continued. "Personally, I think that what makes a weapon interesting are the enchantments! I don't actually know how to do any yet, but..."

He picked up one sword, made of red steel with golden runes etched on its blade. "This sword? Right here? This sword is enchanted with the element of fire!"

He picked up another one, darker with blue energy dancing over it. "This sword is enchanted with the element energy."

The apprentice showed Heroine another sword, with live roses growing all over it. "This sword is enchanted with... _guess!_"

Heroine shrugged, smiling sheepishly. "Rose-power?"

He shook his head. "No, nature. But that was a good guess!"

He continued. "You see, there are eight main elements: ice, fire, water, energy, earth, wind, light and darkness. There's also sub-elements: disease, poison, silver, metal... Even good and evil are elements!"

"Each element also has an opposite, something that can oppose it. Water against energy, earth and wind, frost and fire... You'll do best against a monster with a sword enchanted with its opposite element."

Heroine blinked. "I didn't realize the elements were so relevant to battle. It just seemed like 'ow' and 'different ow'."

Konnan laughed. "Did you know that hydras are actually elementals, not dragons? So a good energy weapon would have made that fight much easier!"

Heroine nodded, but then sighed, afraid to upset him. "I don't really know what I'll be facing next, though. See, I'm looking for a sneevil that took one of my boxes. A really special box. I don't know how I'm going to find that sneevil, but..."

Konnan nodded, but he seemed... disappointed. "Then you'll probably want to hold off on the enchantments for now."

Yulgar nodded to Heroine. "You could come back tomorrow. Then you'll have a lot more time to decide on a weapon.

Heroine agreed, but before she left, she took a look out the window. She cocked her head, trying to get a better look...

"What is it?" Konnan asked.

He looked out the window, and Heroine pointed to the horizon.

"_..._Is that _smoke?!_"

* * *

"What's going on!"

"What's going to happen?"

"Ask _her_, she's the one that killed the hydra!"

The townspeople were all standing in the town square, frightened. One adventurer directed their attention to Heroine, being that she was the first one to notice the fire. She assumed at first that it was a mundane forest fire, but Saelwyn told her otherwise.

"I sense _a great amount of magic_," Saelwyn hissed, "There might be an _entire army_!"

"Army of _what_? Dragons?" Heroine replied.

"Elementals, you _dolt_!"

It was now that Heroine had a choice as she stood before the people of Falconreach. She could come clean, tell them the truth and destroy the small bit of hope these people had... Or she could lie her ass off. She chose the latter.

"Now, I won't lie..." She began, swallowing nervously, "Falconreach is under attack. And army of fire elementals is making its way here."

The townspeople gasped and screamed, while the adventurers tried to calm them, shooting Heroine nasty looks.

"But!" She continued, "We do stand a chance. For one, we know they're coming. Secondly, many brave adventurers stand before you; mages, warriors, rogues... and we'll need to get ice weapons to as many of them as possible. Yulgar, Konnan, I trust that you will do this.

"Now, let's show them what we're made of!"

Though some cheered, others were still skeptic. It didn't matter. What mattered was Falconreach's safety.

The entire town was on fire.

Civilians had already been evacuated, and everyone even remotely capable of fighting was out in the field. The fire elementals lighted the night, and in the worst way possible. Yulgar could barely forge enough weapons for all the adventurers, and some simply had to take weapons off of the burnt corpses of their fellows.

Only ten fire elementals had fallen to Heroine's icy blade. A steel longsword, just like she wanted. Enchanted, just like the apprentice wanted. But this? This was something Heroine never wanted.

A great monster made of stone and lava attacked Heroine, and she only barely dodged. The creature was large and slow, as opposed to the small and quick warrior battling it, though she was still dodging more than she was hitting it. Two other adventurers saw the Hero in distress, and came to help. Finally, the creature fell to the mage's ice blast.

"Thanks," Heroine said, somewhat embarrassed.

"No problem," the rogue said, "adventurers look out for each other."

But the three were then back into the fray and lost each other among the elementals. She didn't even know if they were still alive- Many of the dead were unrecognizable, simply ash and charcoal.

Heroine had taken down the seventeenth elemental when she heard cackling behind her.

"So, you're the Heroine?" he said, and Heroine spun around. She saw an elemental- no, a man- a man whose entire head was aflame. The flesh had burned away from his face, leaving a charred skull, somehow able to form expression. "Funny, I assumed you'd be taller."

Heroine scowled. "I suppose you're behind this?"

The man only laughed.

"Who are you? Why are you attacking Falconreach?!" Heroine said, pointing her sword at him.

His laughter ceased, and he glared at Heroine. "All you need to know is that I am Xan, and I have been sent to kill you."

Heroine's face paled further. "M-Me? You mean... _Who sent you?_"

Xan laughed some more. "Oh, have you forgotten? Prince Drakath sent me. He wants a little comeuppance for that little stunt you pulled."

Xan cackled further, and Heroine scowled. "You're working for Drakath, then? Well, I don't have his box!"

Once again, Xan settled and glared. "All I was told was that you needed to die."

Suddenly, fire burst from the ground below her. Heroine screamed in agony until it ceased, and was met with Xan's confused... face? Once again fire erupted from the ground and pain hit Heroine's every nerve. This repeated until she fell to the ground, and Xan caught a glimpse of her arm.

"THERE'S the problem." He said. He grabbed her wrist and wiped Saelwyn's mark off of Heroine's arm. The damage that had been done started to take its toll. Heroine couldn't get up. The world faded.

She failed. Xan teleported away, his job presumably done, and Heroine heard... something. Yelling. Then darkness.

She failed. The town burned down. Her friends were dead. She knew it. She didn't dare think otherwise, after last night.

What happened last night? She barely remembered it. She didn't want to. There was hope. Then pain. Unbearable pain. It was all around her, and yet so sudden, shooting up from the ground.

Fire. It was fire. Horrible, monstrous fire, that spread so quickly, and took so many lives...

Somebody was calling her name. She stirred, to find the relieved faces of Ash and Twilly.

"I knew you could do it!" Ash said, patting Twilly's head. Heroine looked about. Yulgar, Serenity, Saelwyn, most of the people she saw yesterday... they were there. The sun had since risen. The battle was over, and they won.

But then, only because she had been incinerated.

Unlike the rest of the townspeople, Konnan seemed rather upset with the result. He knelt before Heroine. "Do you know why this happened?"

Heroine nodded. "This flaming sonuvatog, Xan, was sent to kill me. Apparently, I pissed off the wrong guy.

Konnan nodded, a worried expression on his face, and stood. "I'll need to go talk to someone. Excuse me."

Feeling a hand on her shoulder, Heroine turned back to Ash. She smiled and ruffled his hair.

"...Yeah. I think I'll stay."


End file.
